KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Excelsior Community College (ECC) will open its first ever E-Learning Centre (ELC) next Tuesday at its main campus.

The ceremony, which is slated to begin at 12:30 pm, will feature Minister of Science, Technology & Energy, Dr Andrew Wheatley as the keynote speaker.According to principal, Philmore McCarthy, the opening of this E-Learning Centre is an innovative educational initiative that has been long overdue and was in the pipelines for months. “It was first given the green-light by the previous minister and was endorsed and facilitated by the current minister,” said McCarthy adding that it will change the teaching and learning process for both teachers and students and allow community members in the Mountain View area and its environs even greater access to the college.He said it will also enable the ECC to produce a workforce that can fit into a globalised, knowledge-based economy.“The lab is one of the many initiatives of ECC to fulfill its key strategic objectives of producing employable graduates and to meet the needs of the communities that the college serves,” McCarthy said.The lab, which will benefit communities in Kingston and St Andrew, is equipped with thirty-one desktop computers, a Wacom pen and touching drawing pad; a laser printer; wide-format inkjet printer and an interactive white board with mounted projector among other things.The state-of-the-art-facility was funded by the Universal Service Fund.